Political Cartoons

The Week, the Moore family's favorite mag, had a nice summary a few weeks back of the views of Hitchens, Sullivan, Parker, etc. on the Danish cartoon controversy. You can read the full summary here. Here are a few quotes that got my attention:

When Christians eat hamburgers, Hindus do not threaten to kill them. When nonbelievers tell jokes about Jesus and Moses playing golf, Catholics and Jews do not burn down buildings. But if anyone "offends" Islam, said Christopher Hitchens in Slate.com, they risk a death sentence. Obviously, we should avoid offending people's religions arbitrarily, said Andrew Sullivan in Time. "But the Danish cartoons were not arbitrarily offensive. They were designed specifically to reveal Islamic intolerance" and they have now done so, in abundance." What the rioters are saying is that it's not enough that they follow the dictates of their faith; the rest of the world must do so, too, on pain of death. That's why this incident, absurd as it is, constitutes a true clash of civilizations, said Kathleen Parker in the Orlando Sentinel. "Until Muslim peoples get the idea that free expression means freedom to offend as well as to be offended, we have a problem." This is a war of ideas, and it promises to be a long one.

You can see the cartoons for yourself various places on the interweb, including Michelle Malkins site.